Our Times Together

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I want to end this blog with some photos of my students, Kathy, and I.

I would like to thank Mr. Lee and his company for making my trip possible. Many thanks to Nessie Cumur at USPAACC for all of her help.

Thanks Kathy, for being a great partner and for inspiring our lessons with your artistic skills.

And last but not least, THANK YOU my class, for being the BEST students one can hope for.


Photos were taken by Kathy Ly.

End of the Summer

From left to right: Quyen, Yen, Ngoc, Nhi, Thanh, Tri, Nghia, Thanh, Vy, Lanh, Nga, Ngan, Ngoc, Nhu, and Hoang.

Looking pretty at the end of the summer ceremony: Thanh, Nghia, Nga, Nhi, and Thanh (L-R). In the backrow: Lanh, Vy, and Ngan (L-R)

THANH: Our class's awesome dance instructor!

To celebrate the end of our summer program, each class has been asked to do a performance. Our class wanted to do a hip hop dance and sing a song. Thanh, one of our students, is an avid dancer. Thanh is shy in class, so it was wonderful to see him open up as a dance instructor. He rocked!

Our students practiced after class every day for a week. And their performance reflected their efforts :)



Thanh, the forever patient dance instructor.

Lesson on Race and the American Civil Rights Movement

Both Kathy and I come from immigrant families so we share a strong interest in the topic of race. We wanted to do a lesson on race and racism with our students. I was not sure how it would go because few places in the world are as race-conscious as the US.

I had brought with me from the US a copy of "Boycott!" a play about the Civil Rights Movement. It centers on Rosa Parks' defiant act that led to the bus boycott.

Out students LOVED the play and the experience of acting! Even the shyest ones completely surprised us. They put 110% into their roles and did an amazing job.

The play had 8 roles and a "chorus" part so everyone had a chance to be involved. We acted out the play twice with two different casts.

In the photo: Tri (black) plays the mean bus driver. Anh (white) plays Rosa Parks, and Hoang (turquoise) is the policeman who is going to take Rosa Parks away.